I Love America & America Loves Me
120 Minute Site-Specific Performance
Bricker Federal Building, Columbus, OH
120 Minute Site-Specific Performance
Bricker Federal Building, Columbus, OH
ILA&ALM video from Ruth K. Burke on Vimeo.
I Love America and America Loves Me was creating in response to the class system in the United States. This work was created in collaboration with the Federal Government. After filing paperwork with personal details and information regarding the performance, four government employees gave their approval and issued a formal permit for the happening on federally-owned grounds. Originally proposed as a one hour performance, the panel approved my permit for two hours.
Instructions for the piece were as follows: Performer will mask his or her face, only revealing the eyes. The performer will lay a flag on the ground, placing 50 dollar bills along the front long-side. They will kneel on the flag for two hours, motionless. They will not speak or react to the environment around him or her. After two hours, the performer will pick up every bill and place them on the flag. The performer will stand up and shake the flag off, leaving the bills wherever they fall.
I hypothesized the project would end at proposal stage. This work was created in response to a class I took under the instruction of artist Shane Mecklenburger (www.shmeck.com), a professor at Ohio State University. Titled “Collaborating with the Enemy”, the class focused around permission- as an artist. I chose to work with the government. I was questioning the role of government in our class system, the relationship towards capitalism and the relationship it has with individuals on a micro level. The John D. Bricker Federal building houses the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Agriculture, the Social Security Administration and Housing and Urban development. Many veterans were present and upset by my performance; some civilians gave me money- one even whispering “thank you for your help” after placing another dollar bill under the flag.
Instructions for the piece were as follows: Performer will mask his or her face, only revealing the eyes. The performer will lay a flag on the ground, placing 50 dollar bills along the front long-side. They will kneel on the flag for two hours, motionless. They will not speak or react to the environment around him or her. After two hours, the performer will pick up every bill and place them on the flag. The performer will stand up and shake the flag off, leaving the bills wherever they fall.
I hypothesized the project would end at proposal stage. This work was created in response to a class I took under the instruction of artist Shane Mecklenburger (www.shmeck.com), a professor at Ohio State University. Titled “Collaborating with the Enemy”, the class focused around permission- as an artist. I chose to work with the government. I was questioning the role of government in our class system, the relationship towards capitalism and the relationship it has with individuals on a micro level. The John D. Bricker Federal building houses the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Agriculture, the Social Security Administration and Housing and Urban development. Many veterans were present and upset by my performance; some civilians gave me money- one even whispering “thank you for your help” after placing another dollar bill under the flag.